Saturday, January 29, 2011

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Happy Chinese New Year! I don't know why, but the thought of Chinese New Year always leads me to planning lessons involving food! I plan on having us celebrate the new year with a food. I will bring in my wok and make a stir fry for the kids as our late afternoon snack. I love to see the kids try to eat with chopsticks. I usually go to Panda Express and ask for some.

Here are some other books that we will read. I love to look at this holiday as a time to celebrate Asian authors or books which have Asian characters. I may not have time to read each one but the class will have access to all of these books during their independent reading time or buddy reading time. I love how these books can lend themselves well to making connections.

Chinese New Year is about representing good fortune. Here are some simple suggestions:

On Chinese New Year Eve have your students clean the classroom; to get rid of all the old from the previous year.

Encourage your students to wear red for luck and fortune.

Create a banner with red (for happiness) and gold (for fortune) welcoming the new year.

Buy some fresh flowers (for a prosperous year) and oranges (for good health and long life) to display.

1 comment:

We made a large dancing dragon with box for the head, bulletin board paper for the body and crape paper on the sides as streamers. We then had the students carry it over their heads around the school while one student beat a drum. Every class cheered as we passed! the kids enjoyed making it and loved the attention from the other students.

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